Native American Forum
Reprinted From: Newe Sogobia Native American Forum
Sponsored by the Wells Band of Western Shoshone

Subject: "Internal Tribal Bickering"
Name: Faces the Sky
Date Posted: Nov 26, 2004
10:42 AM
Your Tribe: Wazhazhe (Lakota 'Osage' Sioux)
Your Location: North Dakota
Message:

I would like to bring to the attention of all Native Americans everywhere that we were forced to wear shoes and give up ours, we were forced to wear the white mans clothes and give up ours, we were forced to attend their schools and give up ours, we were forced to study their religions and give up ours, we were forced to speak their language and give up ours and of all these things we were forced to do...we did them and they are still not happy with us. They do not treat us as equals even by their own words and teachings. They made agreements and treaties with us and do not live up to their own words or their written paper.

There are some that believe they conquered us and our lands...they did not. They stoled everything, they killed everything, they polluted our clean waters and air everywhere and then created programs that they argue about to clean up their mess. Their problems were created by them and not us. They call those who fight to save this good earth environmentalists, ecologists and many other such names and say that these people stand in the way of progress. We have seen what this progress has done and is still doing to our land and many other lands around the world. But, even when it's right in front of them they refuse to see it. It is not a good thing by any measure of logic, reason or sensibility. There is no honor or respect in these things.

They have taken away our medicine ways and given us alcohol and disease and then claim that we have a problem. We do and it is up to us to fix it now.

I look across our nation and see people from all over the world who live and visit here and when I look at them I can tell where they are from. When these people look at us they have to ask what and who we are. This is sad. We look like everybody else. Have we truly lost our identity? I do not see our people representing us in our ways. We do not wear our clothes everyday, we do not stand tall and proud as to who we are. There are many nations who know about us and wonder why we look so different. We look ill and lost.

The government of the United States plays games with us. They ignore us. We should use our motto, that they also took..."United We Stand; Divided We Fall", and also took our words and created their 'Declaration of Independence' and take these things back and ignore them as they have done to us. As they have taught us in their words from their religion..."Do unto others as they have done unto you".

They talk of terrorism in the world, nuclear, chemical and germ warfare...what do you think they have been doing to us all this time and the American people look the other way. There is something terrribly wrong with this whole picture.

I am so tired of hearing about the treatment of minorities in this country, about the illegal aliens and how their rights are being violated and I never once hear anything about us...the one and only original people of this great nation, Our Nation. So, we have to turn these things around. We gave them their holiday of Thanksgiving; we helped them fight for their independence; we've fought in all their wars, we've given this nation heroes too, yet, we are ignored.

We must use the education they forced us to learn; we must use the language they forced us to learn, but, we should use these things to our advantage. We should be wearing our clothes and speak in our language; we should have strong out-spoken leaders that represent all of us, yet, we should have three full deligations: One for our Nation - A Native American Congress that would have members from all the Indian Nations or Tribes whether they are federally recognized or not; One for Our Women - A Native American Women's Council who would bring to the foreground the social, educational and domestic affairs concerning us and our families; and One for Our International Relations made up of members from the previous two who would represent our Nation to the other Nations of the World.

To continue, Our Nation has never declared war or invasion on any nation in the world; we have never stolen anything from them; we have never raped, murdered or committed any crime against them; we have never polluted their lands, their water or their air; we have not conducted any atomic or nuclear research or testing on their soil and we have never proposed to present written documents in our language that others cannot read, much less understand, on our behalf that in essence do not mean what they say. These are not our ways.

But in todays world we would propose to all nations around the world that the Native People of All Indian Nations and Tribes are a Neutral Nation and do not subscribe to United States and their unlawful possession of our lands or their position in our Nation or the world.

All Native Americans everywhere...it is time to cease the internal tribal bickering that plagues our People. This is what they want us to do. 'Divided We Fall' - Stand United, Stand Tall and by all means...Stand!

Faces the Sky
February 3, 2006

I would like to thank everyone for the wonderful responses from my last posting in 2004. (Presented above). It would seem that we all know and share in the same understanding about our inner-tribal bickerings. Some of you have said that you copied what I wrote and passed it out around your reservations and so on. Thank you.
Now I would like to offer another writing, as requested from the Webmaster of the Wells Band Colony of Western Shoshone, along the same lines of thought. I would also like to thank him for making this special page for the things I write.
This is a great honor.
With this new writing you may find that it may appear to be a little more harsh, yet, my intentions remain the same. Please enjoy it and if you wish, you may copy it also.

WE ARE STILL HERE

Few in this world have heard our voice or the story we have to tell. Many have heard about our history, still, fewer have heard it from our perspective; from our position. We did not write these histories and for many decades knew nothing of them. Once we read them is when we became aware of all the misleading facts and untruths; how we were portrayed in the eyes and minds of those who had never met us and how our nation was raped and stolen by the many intruders in a method that they believe to this day was and is their right. They would never get away with this in today's world.

We know that our nation was never conquered short of a never ending population flow. The Great-Chiefs of the east understood that those who came here were being persecuted in their own lands and they came here asking for sanctuary. This sancuary was granted to them to live here amongst us in peace; to sit beside us. It was not granted for them to come here and sit on us.

They, and their persecutors, brought their wars, their sickness, their religions and their broken governments to our land and continued to kill eachother...and they killed us too.

They had no respect for us or our land...these things would soon turn on them.

They were starving and freezing. We continued to help them. We sat one day and shared the blessings of the land and the brief moment in our unified history to eventually create their holiday known as Thanksgiving. Today, this event is celebrated with barely a mention of our people.

They teach their children, and ours, that a man named Columbus discovered America when they know in truth that he had never came here. Why do they continue to teach this lie...along with many others? We know this man was a butcher and enslaved and murdered the natives on those islands we now call San Salvador and Cuba. These were not Spanish possessions in those days either. We also know that the German people did not create a Hitler Day to celebrate the slaughter of the Jewish people in the same manner for creating such days.

Where is the logic or the humanity in these things?

It does not appear in the history books of the United States that a man called Captain Sinclair, from Scotland, sailed the Atlantic Ocean with 12 ships and 250 men 150 years before Columbus. These Scottish people, with an Italian navigator, met with our people. They were given a tour of our land. During this brief moment in our two histories there was no fighting, no wars, no killing of eachother; no domination and no claim of discovery. Life went on. As it was, one of Captain Sinclair's men died of natural causes and our people helped them to prepare his body for a safe trip home for burial. To commemorate this great event of their meeting, together, they built a monument with various carvings that have been, until recently, thought to be of Viking origin. The Scots brought back to their country the Native American design for what is called Long-Houses. This is when these structures began to show up in their country and thoughout other parts of Europe. It was from this event, this meeting of two different cultures, that our people knew that someday they - or others like them would return. This is how our people knew what was going on over there long before they came back. This too is how we learned of their beliefs and religions. What we didn't know is that when these people did return that they would be so different, so barbaric.

Their history is written and teaches of their war for independence and we even helped them fight for this. When it was done they presented a document called the Declaration of Independence. What many of their people are unaware of is that this document was written by a Cherokee Tribe of the Iroquis Nation.

Few, since those days, have chosen or even tried to learn our language, however, they forced theirs on us. They would beat and even kill us if we chose not to learn these things.

We, to this day, ask amongst ourselves how can this nation of theirs, that we all helped them to fight for, deny us the same rights they afford to all others including those who came here later and continue to come. We were not allowed to choose. As they continued to come they would meet with us and offer gifts as some sort of assurance that their words were good and even wrote these things down on their paper and called them treaties. We were to learn that they meant nothing. Such being the case we also learned that they can freely violate these treaties and treat them as nothing also. Then we too can do the same. This is still our nation no matter what is written on their paper. It is worhtless. Everyone should, at this point, know what this would mean.

What is difficult to comprehend is that when they stand in full light of violating these treaties, and too, what they consider by their own government to be the Law of the Land as documented in their own Constitution - we have no right to speak. When we do speak we have to meet with them in their courts. I do not recall when these courts sat a Native American Judge or Jury. Would they fair so well in our courts in the same way?

The United States grew and evolved out ot bloody tretchery into a nation that offered hope and freedom to the rest of the world. It is sad that they continue to also offer their tretchery.

We know that the other great nations of the world knew nothing of our people for countless centuries because we were not allowed to represent ourselves to them. When the world became aware of us we learned that it was only a few of them that plagued our country with their cultures of religion and wars...and they still plague us.

We were not allowed to wear our own clothes or endulge our religions. We were not allowed the privilages of freedom like everyone else...and this is our nation.

When it comes to justice we are not received in their courts as equals or even legitimate. Centuries of pleadings have gone unheard and unatteneded short of stealing more of our lands, our rights and our voice.

With regards to the Western Shoshone's Ruby Valley Treaty of 1863, it is my understanding, that the International Courts and the United Nations have asked endlessly for decades that the United States and their many involved agencies produce legal documentation as to how they aquired ownership of these Shoshone lands. They never have...they cannot - such documents do not exist and never have existed. Their claim is that they obtained these lands by way of 'gradule encroachment' when, in fact, their Constitution does not allow or afford such liberties with any lands that they have entered into treaty with.

This ongoing issue alone is enough to have all of our Native Nations and Tribes within and concerned as to when the U.S. will claim the same things with them.

If this is the way the United States conducts it's business here on our soil it is no wonder why other nations around the world do not trust them.

I also know that the Shoshone and the Paiute people and their lands (nations) have been exposed to more atomic and nuclear testing, bombing and radioactive contamination than any other nation in the world...and the world just sits there and lets this happen. Would they be so quiet if this was happening to them, their land and their nation?

To look at this world with its many people, cultures, governments and religions, there are only a few who have attacked us and tried to change our ways; tried to wipe us out....and they have failed. "We are still here".

It is very insulting to have our people protrayed as heathens and savages, to mock our culture and way of life, to dress up in such poor and sick manners to look like us on their Halloween. They treat us like they want nothing to do with us and, yet, they use our names for their cities, their streets, their products and even name their sports teams from us and, all the while, make fun of us. How totally disrespectful. It really makes me want to cry when I hear them make comments like there goes another drunk indian; oh, get them drunk and you can get anything from them.

I have heard talk amongst many of my elders that we should go out and dig up all of these white men's cemetaries and put their bones and artifacts in our own Native American museums for the world to see as they have done to us. Why is it necessary to put the dead on display as such? Is it really history? Perhaps, then, if it is, then they should at least tell the truth. I have personally tested the social attitudes in this country of today by walking down the streets dressed in my own clothing of leather, beads and feathers. The reactions I have received have been, for the most part, with people who ask me if I am an Indian or where is the costume party. This is the general mindset. To me, it's like walking up to a tree and asking if it's a tree or as if looking up and asking if the sky is the sky. Is it always necessary to ask about what is so obvious? If so, then this may explain why they do not see us as a people - as a nation.

I do not understand why most of us are not wearing our own clothing. It bothers me to see our youth dressing like they came from white-middle-class suburbia or the black ghettos or those hip-hoppers. Times may have changed along with certain social attitudes and the fact that they are young and just want to fit in with what is going on around them, but, these things are just another way of losing their identity even more. I have heard that some believe it is the clothes that makes the man (person) and with Native Americans this could not be more true. With us it is our individual, tribal and national identity. There are no two the same amongst us.

In a world where everyone is screaming for individuality they must come to understand that it is a difficult thing to possess or accomplish when everyone looks and even acts like everyone else.

Your clothes do say a lot about you. Therefore, what are you trying to say? What is it that you want people to see and hear about you?

If these things mean nothing to you and you don't care then there is really no point in trying to share with you this information for your own understanding of it's real importance.

There is another great concern throughout our nations that our people are losing their language. Some already have. Because of this some are taking measures to record their languages on tape and CD's, some even on video in an effort to save them for our future generations. This is a good thing. We must remember when making such recordings that some of our languages are not spoken or with sounds. Jestures between hands and facial expressions are often used instead of words. Unless these things too are recorded then those languages will be incomplete.

From our point of view, history has proven that we Native Americans are one of the greatest peoples on Earth in-so-far as the thousands upon thousands of years we have inhabited this great nation or continent of ours. Where we have never had cause or reason to intrude on other nations, to make war on them or to change their beliefs.

I could elaborate on our many great leaders and heroes, on our unique relationship with the Earth; our home, and why we never chose to sail across either of the great waters to embrace the demons of technology (even though we have learned these things anyway), but, for this brief moment I chose to simply bring forth matters that will, hopefully, assist our people with an understanding that we must come together, unified towards the common goal of being recognized, of being heard and to know that we are standing, strong, beautiful, intelligent and Brothers and Sisters on the great path of life.

There have been many sad days since the foriegners came. Somehow we have managed to survive them and we are happy with who we are. Often we have asked why the Great Spirit abandoned his red children, only to surmise, perhaps, that he was trying to teach the intruders a lesson in humility and humbleness. They have not yet learned these things.

If it is our desire and our dream for our children to grow healthy and knowledgable, we must present them with good examples to learn from and follow. It all begins with you.

Taking into consideration all of the many things that have happened to our people over the last 500 years I can stand and say without any reservations what-so-ever that I am proud and happy that I am a Native American, an Indian, a person of the Wazhazhe (People of the Sky). I am Ani Yun Wiya Lakota.

We are still here...now, let's get to work.

Thank you for hearing me,
Faces the Sky